ABDJ Leaves The Left Coast, Drops Down to The ATL

Faust Rocks The Joint

Los Angeles—Driving down Santa Monica Boulevard this past weekend, it was hard not to be seduced by the surroundings—y’know, 70-degrees, convertibles cruising, pedestrians rocking shorts-n-flip-flops. At some point, I began humming that famous Randy Newman song:

“From the South Bay to the Valley
From the West Side to the East Side
Everybody’s very happy
’ Cause the sun is shining all the time
Looks like another perfect day
I lo-o-o-ove…”

Whew, caught myself just in time—after all, I am an East Coast person.

Still, it’s easy to see why people do lo-o-o-ve L.A.—and, what’s more, these days, the town’s DJ and club scenes are really thriving. We caught a double-dose this past weekend, as we dropped in for a pair of Left Coast dates on the America’s Best DJ Summer Tour Presented by Pioneer DJ.

First up was Avalon for the Friday-night Control party featuring ABDJ nom DJ Dan, who blasted an early evening audience while we maintained our voting booth in the club’s foyer and racked up the votes for Mr. Wherrett. And we ran into some friends as well, namely Ultra Music PR/marketing maven Jessica Risling-Sholl and rising LA-based DJ/producer Fei-Fei, who stopped in before heading off to Music Box for the Feed Me gig. Dan worked the room into a lather, then Boy 8-Bit took the inevitable musical turn toward dubstep. (Thanks to InfamousPR’s Ali Duncan and Jonah Berry for the hookups.)

The next night, we took a trip over to The Joint for the Timeless party with husband-and-wife turntablists Faust & Shortee. In a reggae-themed setting that included Bob Marley paintings on its tables, pot-field-pictures as wallpaper and a full-on head shop in the back, we did our best to stay focused on the bass-heavy jams. But from the outset, Faust & Shortee killed it with a deft mixture of drumstep and turntable technique. (A shout-out to my man Ben, a Timeless gig-goer I met that evening and a d-n-b-loving fan who recently moved to the Southland from The ATL.)

And speaking of Atlanta, that’s where we’ll be this weekend for Bubblicious, a three-day event (July 17-19) at 2 High Studios featuring “3 foam arenas, 5 stages of sound, 100+ artists and mind-blowing visuals.” ABDJ nominees on the bill include Reid Speed, Donald Glaude, Charles Feelgood and DJ Dan.

So, this week, it’ll be Georgia on my mind—and let’s not forget that 90-degree climate. Come out to vote for your favorite DJs at Bubblicious or vote online at http://www.americasbestdj.net/bestdj/index.htm. One lucky fan will win a trip for 2 to Las Vegas to the America’s Best DJ Closing Party/Award Ceremony on Oct. 1 at the Marquee Nightclub.